Pneumatic tube jumping toy

ABSTRACT

A jumping toy having a flat platform base, upwardly projecting posts spaced equidistantly from one another and connected at their tops to form a tower, and a pneumatic tube resting on the flat base and surrounding the tower. The base comprises an encircling central member with a plurality of ears secured at spaced intervals around the inner circumference thereof. The lower ends of the upwardly projecting posts are mounted on these ears. A plurality of arms radiate outwardly from the outer periphery of the encircling central member. These arms are the base support for the pneumatic tube.

O United States Patent 11 1 1 1 397659673 Daw Oct. 16, 1973 PNEUMATIC TUBE JUMPING TOY [76] Inventor: Arvil Daw, 244 N. E. Main, 5:22: 3 3$$;;:?g

Blackfoot Idaho 83221 Attorney-B. Deon Criddle etal. [22] Filed: May 18, 1972 [21] App]. No.: 254,386 ABSTRACT A jumping toy having a flat platform base, upwardly projecting posts spaced equidistantly from one an- CCll. 27252516325383 other and Connected at their p to form a tower, and a pneumatic tu e restln on t e at ase an sur- [58] Field oi s n r eii lllllllllllll 27 2/ i iQ 33 R 33 A i b i g h fl b d 272/57 R 275/26 58 rounding the tower. The base comprises an encircling 95 248/158 1887 6 central member with a plurality of cars secured at spaced intervals around the inner circumference [56] References Cited thereof. The lower ends of the upwardly projecting posts are mounted on these ears. A plurality of arms UNITED STATES PATENTS radiate outwardly from the outer periphery of the en- 3,l67,3l2 l/l965 Blanchard 272/57 E circling central member These arms are the base up- 1,486,669 3/1924 Kline 272/33 R port f the pneumatic tuba 3,408,070 10/1968 Gonzales et al... 273/26 E 3,195,890 7/1965 Salls 272/57 E 2 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures a r W n 22 Patented Oct. 16, 1973 3,765,673

FIG.4

' 20 I70 I70 7 l9 PNEUMATIC TUBE .IUMPING TOY BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to jumping toys incorporating pneumatic tubes to provide a resilient lift to persons jumping thereon.

2. Prior Art Toys incorporating springs or air filled resilient tubes to provide lift to persons jumping thereon have long been known and in common use. Jumping toys such as are shown by US Pat. Nos. 3,195,890 and 3,167,312 have incorporated tower or post arrangements therewith as hand supports in conjunction with a resilient means on which users jump up and down. These previously known devices, unlike the present invention, incorporate a platform surface on the resilient means, and have involved complicated tower and resilient supports that have made construction of such devices prohibitively expensive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the principle object of the present invention to provide a resilient jumping toy on which users can derive enjoyment and exercise by jumping up and down thereon.

Another object is to provide a jumping toy that is simple and inexpensive to construct from a minimum of component parts which will provide many hours of safe enjoyment to persons jumping thereon.

Principal features of the present invention include a ground contacting flat base; a plurality of upwardly projecting, equidistantly spaced vertical posts connected at their tops to form a tower that provides hand grips for users of the jumping toy. A resilient means, in the form of a large pneumatic type ring-shaped tube, surrounds the posts and rests on the flat base to provide a bounce to persons holding onto the tower posts and jumping on the tube.

Additional objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken together with the accompanying drawings.

THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view taken from the front and slightly above a first embodiment of the present invention with the ring shaped tube being lowered into use position;

FIG. 2, a top plan view of the invention shown in FIG. 1, but with the tube in use position;

FIG. 3, a vertical section through the base, taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4, an enlarged, fragmentary perspective of the upper portion of the tower;

FIG. 5, an exploded, perspective view of an alternate connection arrangement for joining tower posts to the base;

FIG. 6, a similar view of still another connection arrangement for joining tower posts to the base; and

FIG. 7, another embodiment of a ground contacting base suitable for a jumping toy of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring now to the drawings:

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1-4, the jumping toy 10 consists of a flat ground engaging platform base 11 to which a tower,

shown generally at 12, is connected to extend vertically upward therefrom. A ring shaped pneumatic tube 13, FIG. 1, is fitted over the tower 12 and rests on platform 11.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the tower 12 has four posts 14, equally spaced from one another and anchored around the periphery of a top plate 15 of platform base 11. It will be obvious that with but slight modifications, as few as three posts or more than four posts can be used to form tower 12, with the number of posts used, and their arrangement dictating the number of persons who can at one time conveniently grip the posts to use the jumping toy. Each post 14 has a nut 16 secured across its bottom end to receive a bolt 17 turned therein that has been fitted through an appropriate hole formed in top plate 15. Bolts 17 tighten into nuts 16 to anchor tower 12 to top plate 15, and the top plate is secured to a bottom plate 19 by screws 18. The top plate 15 and connected bottom plate 19 make up the ground engaging platform base 11. Recesses 20, formed in bottom plate 19, receive the heads 17a of bolts 17 so that the top and bottom plates 15 and 19 can be connected together in a flush relationship.

The tops 14a of posts 14 are curved inwardly with each top connecting to the top of an opposite post and with the connected posts thus forming arcs 21 and 22 that are connected at junction 23, normal to one another. As shown in FIG. 4, are 21 is formed by connecting a strap 24 to the tops 14a of one pair of posts 14, which tops are spaced apart approximately the outside diameter of a post. A recess 25 is thus formed in are 21 to accommodate a continuous arc 22 formed by welding or otherwise connecting the tops 14a of the other pair of posts 14. Stops 22a are provided on the underside of are 22 to properly position arc 22 within recess 25 such that a bolt 26 can be fitted through appropriate aligned holes formed in the arcs. A nut 26a is threaded onto bolt 26 to secure the arcs 21 and 22 together.

A person using the toy stands on pneumatic tube 13, grips the posts 14 with his raised hands, and jumps up and down on the tube. The pneumatic tube propels the person in an upward direction and dissipates opposite energy forces, exerted by the propelling jumper upward, through the platform base 11 to the ground. Platform base 11, thereby stabilizes the jumping toy and dissipates directly to ground energy forces exerted through the tube 13, thereby allowing one or a number of persons to simultaneously jump on the pneumatic tube without the danger of the toy tipping over. The resiliency of tube 13 propels the person upward and his hold on posts 14 insures that he will travel in approximately a vertical path up and down. The more posts that are arranged as tower 12, the more persons that can simultaneously use the toy, with the size of tube 13 finally controlling the numbers of persons who can simultaneously jump thereon. If users properly time their jumping added boost will be provided each jumper, since one person coming down will force air into the portion of a tube on which one person starting up is umping.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show alternative attachment arrangements for coupling posts 14 to a ground engaging base. FIG. 5 shows brackets 28, each having a radially extending flange through which screws 30 are inserted into a ground engaging base shown fragmentarily at 29. The posts 14 are exteriorly threaded for attachment to the bracket and the brackets are interiorly threaded to be turned onto the bottoms of the posts before being anchored to the base by screws 30.

The attachment arrangement shown in FIG. 6, involves a threaded stud 33 that is welded to and projects upwardly from a mount formed as a block 32 to connect each post 14. The block is adapted to be secured to a ground engaging base by screws 34 turned therethrough and into the base. Stud 33 is turned tightly into a nut 16 prior to connecting block 32 to the ground engaging platform, not shown.

FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of a ground engaging base 35. As illustrated, the base 35 has a ring shaped central portion 36 which may be made from strap or steel tubing, or the like, having radial arms equiangularly projecting therefrom. A pneumatic tube, of the type heretofore described, rests on the arms when the base 35 is used. Bars 38, spaced approximately ninety degress from each other, are arranged around the inner circumference of central portion 36, and project inwardly therefrom. The ears have holes 39 formed therethrough to accommodate bolts, inserted therethrough and threaded into the nuts attached to the lower ends of the posts forming the tower 12 Although preferred forms of my invention have been herein disclosed, it is to be understood that the present disclosure is made by way of example and that variations are possible without departing from the subject matter coming within the scope of the following claims, which subject matter I regard as my invention.

I claim:

1. A jumping toy comprising a ground engaging base having a ring shaped central member and a plurality of ears secured at spaced intervals around the inner circumference of the central member;

an upright tower attached at a lower end to said ground engaging base so as to project vertically upwardly therefrom;

means for attaching said ears to the lower end of said upright tower;

a ring shaped pneumatic tube surrounding a portion of the tower; and

a plurality of arms radiating outwardly at equiangularly spaced intervals around the outer periphery of said central member, whereby said pneumatic tube rests on said arms.

2. A jumping toy comprising a ground engaging base having an encircling central member and a plurality of ears secured at spaced intervals around the inner circumference of the central member;

an upright tower attached at a lower end to said ground engaging base so as to project vertically upwardly therefrom;

means for attaching said ears to the lower end of said upright tower;

a ring shaped pneumatic tube surrounding a portion of the tower; and

arm means radiating outwardly at equiangularly spaced intervals from around said central member for supporting said pneumatic tube resting thereon. 

1. A jumping toy comprising a ground engaging base having a ring shaped central member and a plurality of ears secured at spaced intervals around the inner circumference of the central member; an upright tower attached at a lower end to said ground engaging base so as to project vertically upwardly therefrom; means for attaching said ears to the lower end of said upright tower; a ring shaped pneumatic tube surrounding a portion of the tower; and a plurality of arms radiating outwardly at equiangularly spaced intervals around the outer periphery of said central member, whereby said pneumatic tube rests on said arms.
 2. A jumping toy comprising a ground engaging base having an encircling central member and a plurality of ears secured at spaced intervals around the inner circumference of the central member; an upright tower attached at a lower end to said ground engaging base so as to project vertically upwardly therefrom; means for attaching said ears to the lower end of said upright tower; a ring shaped pneumatic tube surrounding a portion of the tower; and arm means radiating outwardly at equiangularly spaced intervals from around said central member for supporting said pneumatic tube resting thereon. 